Container opener



May-11, 1954 H. J. SCHERINGER 2,677,882

CONTAINER OPENER Filed Nov. 27, 1951 INVENTOR. HERBERT J, JCH'ERINGER BY f0 ATTORNEY Patented May 11, 1954 UNITED STATES? OFF-WE 2,677,882. CONTAINER OPENER. Herbert J; Scheringer, oliveBridge N. Y. Application November 27,

7 Claims; I

This invention relates broadly to devices, for

opening containers, and particularly to piercing instrumentalities adapted, 'for opening rimles s cans, such asvused for milk, and to a combination with such canpiercinginstrumentality of, auxiliary devicesfor puncturing rimmed cans and for removing bottle caps.

One of. the objects of the the present invention is the provision of'a, simplainexpensive, compact and efiicientopener for rimless cans, by' means of which cans of'different height may be pierced tojprovide smooth pouring openings.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a piercing device. for rimless cans:

not. only pierce the top. of a which. is designed; to can but also to force the pierced portion of, the can top against the wall of the can, thereby forming a smooth pouring edge.

Another important object of this invention is the provision of a container piercing device which includes a one-piece bracket consisting. of an. upright portion and a can-supporting base portion, the latter extending substantially at, right angles device upon a supporting surface, suchas a tabletop, and wherein the upright portion is provided at its top end With a hinge structure for operatively accommodating a pierc mg member, the latter being adapted to'not only.

top of a can but ative position for supporting a short can; or to its inoperative, out-of-the-way position, so that it clears the base portion for placing thereon a tall can.

Another object of the present invention is. the

provision of a piercing member in conjunction;

rimmed can, and wherein the bracket isequipped.

with additional means for facilitating the, re moval of bottle caps.

The foregoing and numerous additional objects and; advantages oi'the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following v description in conjunction with the accompanying 1951, Serial No. 258,407

of, with the auxiliary can support; in operative;

posi on;

Fig. an a rear-view of Fig. 3,.seen in themdicated; direction 4- .4;

Rig. 5 isga similar fraginentahview to that shown.

intffig i, withtheauxiliary base in inoperative po it on;

Fig. 6 is afragmental perspective detail view of; the hin estructure connecting thetop-end of,

the. upri ht; bracket. member-z. and:

portion with the. piercing Fig. 7illustrates,asideeieyationof a simplified.

structure, of, the; device ior accommodating a tall can, and; indicatinginbroken lines an optionalv structure for. .usewith a. small; can.

The: device as; illustrated inFigs. 1 1206 constitutesia. one-piece bracket it having an upright portion ll andabase; portion. l2, forming anina: piercing member .I 8- tion l i, the attached endof which terminates in a relatively shortandflat wedge-shapedpiercing element. t8 'having. a sharp, piercing point is, and a bowed-out undersurface l'ilfadapted' to augmentcompression against the can top engaged can wall; of that portion of the andpierced out by. element i3. The connection betweenhinge structural-50f the-upright bracket portion-and thehandlei-lcomprisesa pierced-out rnetal -por-tion' [8 which passesaround the pin At the=iree end of handle much-larger piercing elealso terminating in a sharp curved in the manner inpresently, preferred along a vertical'centerj composed of a handle por downwardly directed Forced out from the body of the the lower edge of a can rim and serving as pivotal point for piercing element 2%.

At the center of the lower recess formation [3 in the upright bracket portion there is provided an aperture 25 which divides the recess formation into two symmetrical halves. The interior edges 26 of these halves are beveled or curved inwardly in the general direction transversely to the longitudinal horizontal center plane passing through the recess formation, as clearly indicated in Figs. 3 and 4.

In operative association with recess formation [3 is a substantially rectangularly shaped resilient loop 21, preferably made of spring wire. One short side of the loop is open and its ends are formed into symmetrical hooks 28 disposed substantially at right angles to the longitudinal center plane passing through the body of the loop, the ends of hooks being directed outwardly. Due to the resiliency of the loop material, these hooks tensionally engage with their recessed or interior portions the adjacent interior edges of the two halves of recess formation l3, the open ends of the loop tending to spread apart.

When loop 21 is in its horizontal operative position, shown in Figs. 1 and 2, hooks 2B are forced against one another, due to the convergence of edges 28 toward the body of upright bracket portion H, and bear with their curved upper ends against the exterior surface of that bracket portion, thus maintaining the loop in a horizontal plane substantially parallel to that of base portion I2.

When the loop is swung upwards into its outof-the-way or inoperative position, as indicated in broken lines in Figs. 1 and 2 and in full lines in Fig. 5, the outer closed short end 29 of the loop engages and registers with the upper recess formation H. In that position of the loop, hooks 28 separate and tensionally engage the outwardly bowed portions of beveled edges 26 of the lower recess formation l3, as is clearly shown in Fig. 5. Due to the resiliency of the loop material these hooks are pressed into and maintained in these bowed-out edge portions, thereby holding the loop in its inoperative, out-of-the-way position.

Cut out from the body of upright portion H above base portion 12 there is a curved recess 30 so constructed that it forms a hook-shaped point 3! designed as bottle cap remover.

A simplified form of the present device is illustrated in Fig. '7, wherein again a bracket is shown, comprising an upright portion H and a base 12, forming integral parts of one another. The upright is again provided with a bottle cap remover 3| and at its upper end there is a hinged formation l5 operatively supporting a piercing member l6 comprising a handle 11, the attached and operative end of which terminates in a rela tively short, fiat and wedge-shaped piercing element [8 with a downwardly directed puncturing point IQ for rimless cans. The free end of the handle is again equipped with a piercing structure 20 for rimmed cans and having a piercing point 2| and a rim engaging lug 23. Bracket 10', shown in full lines, accommodates. a tall rimless can L, but when the upright bracket portion is shortened to raise the base portion to the broken-line position indicated at [2", the opener will serve for piercing a short can S. Obviously when the embodiment of the present device shown in Fig. '7 is to be employed, it will serve for puncturing cans of only one size, thus when short and tall cans are to be handled, separate can openers will have to be employed.

,. but also rimmed cans may 4 Operation As is indicated in Fig. 1 in broken lines and in Fig. 7 in full lines, piercing member [1, when in inoperative position, will depend from hinge structure IS in adjacency with the outer face of upright portion H, H of the brackets. It will be also noted from Figs. 1 and 2 that piercing member l1 must be swung upwardly and away from the upright bracket portion so that piercing element l8 will successively puncture and cut the top of a can and then force the cut material against the can wall, as clearly indicated in broken lines in Fig. 7. It will be also noted from that figure that piercing member l'i' must assume a very acute angular position in respect to upright portion H, H in order to fully force the cut top material of the can against the can wall so that a smooth pouring edge is formed.

As stated, the base portions of the bracket (l2, l2, and 12') are intended to be placed upon a supporting surface, such as a table top, and that they in turn are designed to support the bottom of a can. When the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is used, it will accommodate either a tall can placed upon base portion 12, or a short can supported by loop 21 when the latter is swung out to its operative position.

From the foregoing description of the present device it will be clearly understood that the construction of the can opener is relatively simple and inexpensive. The embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2 moreover is highly practical and efiective in use. The fact that not only rimless be opened and that in addition bottle caps may be removed by the present device, its universal usefulness and practicability becomes readily evident.

The brackets, in the form shown either in Figs. 1 and 2 or in Fig. '7, are intended to be stamped out from sheet material of the proper gauge and are preferably shaped so that their upright portions gradually taper, being broader at the base and slim at the top end. The structure illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 readily facilitates assembly in that the ends of loop 21, when compressed, easily slip through aperture 25 of recess formation 13 and automatically spread and engage edges 26 when released.

While specific embodiments of the present invention are illustrated and described herein, be

it understood that changes and improvements may be readily incorporated, without departing from the general scope of the present invention as defined in the annexed claims.

What is claimed as new is:

1. In a combination portable opener for rimmed and rimless cans, a bracket composed of an upright and a substantially horizontal base portion, the latter forming an integral part of the upright portion and being adapted to be placed upon a supporting surface, such as a table top, and serving for the support of a can, a hinge formation at the top end of the upright portion, a can-piercing member having a portion forced out from its body and formed into a hinge loop and being operatively supported at said hinge formation of said upright portion, said canpiercing member comprising a handle portion terminating at its hingedly supported end in a piercing element, having a relatively flat, wedgeshaped body ending in a point, but having a bowed-out surface for engaging and compressing the pierced-out material of a can, said handle portion assuming, when in its inoperative state, a position adjacent the outer surface of said upright portion, while the piercing: element assumes a position. at which its point: is: directed upwardly, and; duringa cart-piercing operation;

said upright portion having upper and lower recessesv arranged in its-body;v a loop formation:

2; In a combination portable opener for rimmed andrim-less cans, a' bracket composed of? anti}:- right and a substantiallyhori'zontal base portion, the latt'erformingan integral part of the upright portion and being adapted to be placed upon a supporting surface, such as a table top, and servsumes a position at which its point is directed upwardly, and, during a can-piercing operation, said handle portion being adapted to be swung in an a can-piercing member having a portion forced out from its body and formed into a hinge loop at its hingedly supported end in a piercing element, having a relatively flat, Wedge-shaped body ending in a point, but having a bowed-out suring a can-piercing operation, said handle portion being adapted to be swung in an upward direction, thus causing the piercing element to swing position, to engage the other recess with another of its portions, said loop formation, when in operative position, being disposed in angles relative to the plane of ends of the hooks being directed outwardly, said hooks being adapted to tensionally engage the beveled interior edges of the recess halves and to spread apart when the loop is in inoperative position, and to move inwardly and to engage the exterior face of said upright portion when the loop is brought to its operative, substantially horizontal position, parallel with the base portion, said hooks retaining the loop in that position.

5. In a container opener, a one-piece bracket having a base and an upright portion integral with and extending from the base, a container piercing member operatively associated with the top end of the upright portion, the latter portion having a pair of spaced recesses, a support for a short container operatively held at one of its ends within one of the recesses and being adapted to engage the other recess with its other end when in inoperative position, said support, when in operative position, being disposed substantially parallel with the base, said base serving for accommodating a tall container, when said support is in inoperative position.

6. In a container opener according to claim 5, and wherein the recess holding said support is provided with a central aperture.

7. In a container opener according to claim 6 and wherein said support comprises a resilient loop structure having opposite long and short sides, one of the short sides being open and its ends forming hooks disposed in a plane substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal center plane passing through the loop structure, said hooks being adapted to tensionally engage the ends of said aperture and to bear against the outer face of the upright portion when the loop structure is in its container-supporting, operative position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,046,879 Leppke July 7, 1936 2,289,701 Engel et a1. July 14, 1942 2,302,170 Basler Nov. 17, 1942 2,513,605 Vernon July 4, 1950 2,556,731 Lapierre June 12, 1951 2,567,457 Weller Sept. 11, 1951 2,578,462 Codiga Dec. 11, 1951 

